Gary Zhou 
Tesla cars are leading UFODrive’s launch in the United States. Late last week, UFODrive announced its newest location in San Francisco. The European-based rental company already offers services in London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, etc.
It plans to expand its services into the United States. UFODrive’s first U.S. location is Sutter-Stockton Garage 444 Stockton Street, San Francisco. By October, UFODrive aims to offer rentals in Austin and New York.
UFODrive offers electric cars for daily or weekly rentals. It also has a monthly subscription for longer rentals. The European company’s official website offers rental services for the 5-seater Tesla Model Y and Model 3 Long Range in San Francisco.
According to TechCrunch, UFODrive worked with Inspiration to get about 20 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y units for its foray into the United States. In the past, the rental company started its rental fleet with Tesla cars and added to it in the following weeks and months.
UFODrive’s CEO Aidan McClean is also interested in adding Ford electric vehicles to its fleet. In Europe, the company also offers Tesla Model S, Volkswagen ID.3, Volkswagen ID.4, the Hyundai Kona EV, Polestar, and other electric vehicles for different brands.
TESLA ROBOTAXI IN DEVELOPMENT
Tesla officially listed the Robotaxi as “in development” in its last Shareholders deck. It would be interesting to see what happens to rental companies, like UFODrive, once Tesla enters the industry or autonomous vehicles become more mainstream.
Elon Musk believes that Tesla Robotaxis will be like Uber and Airbnb. He estimated that people would utilize autonomous cars more since they don’t need human drivers to function.
“But the interesting thing is the car still costs the same,” Musk highlighted. “So, in that scenario—at least for some period of time—the effect of gross margin on an autonomous car kinda boggles the mind.”
